New South Wales

Hawkesbury River, Bar Island, Bar Point, Parramatta Wreck and Long Island were targeted for the 8th April cleanup activities for the Hawkesbury River Foreshore Cleanup Program run by Graham Johnston.

This day was all about bulk debris removal with the assistance of 20 volunteers from The Glen (Aboriginal Men's Health Centre) and support from The Hawkesbury River Oyster Growers Association with Moxham's Oyster Barge on hand for the transport of the debris collected.

This was the first time this group has participated in the cleanup program, and they had their work cut out for them with more than 2.5 tonnes of debris to be removed from the mangrove river system.

A break in the rain and beautiful sunshine brought full positivity to our Seven Mile beach clean up in Cape Byron on the 7th April. A bus, a bumpy dirt road and more kids than adults brought plenty of entertainment before we even got to the nitty gritty of bean clean up action. We found big chunks of rusted metal that revealed themselves after the recent massive storms and a backlog of rubbish up a little creek after the last high tide. In that moment, it felt like we were somewhere in Asia, not Australia and was a mission to get it all out.

Most common items were not surprisingly little pieces of hard plastic – 3239 to be exact, 1116 bits of foam insulation and packaging; plastic lids and more rubber footwear than we needed for our volunteers!

Thanks to the 35 volunteers who came from all areas of Northern Rivers – you guys are awesome! A special thanks to Mahina Mermaid crew for organising, Revolve Your World and support from Dave Rasta. What a great day!

The Ocean and Coastal Care Initiative (OCCI) teams from the Central Coast and Port Stephens held a Project Aware on the Coast Course on March 24th for local volunteers keen to be involved in coastal environmental projects in their local areas.

12 participants headed to Kingsley Beach, Port Stephens in NSW for the day's workshop which covered skills and information on how to organise and run a Marine Debris Clean Up. The morning was spent looking at the world wide problem of litter in our oceans and on the beaches and the initiatives that are being created to work towards doing something about it. This was followed by the nitty gritty of how to organise a local clean up.

What a wet day! It was torrential, BUT we still had 16 OCCI (Ocean and Coastal Care Initiatives) Central Coast members turn up to tackle debris on the fringes of our lovely lagoon.

Mick Kilp, a member of our group, who runs a kayaking venture on the lagoon and works constantly to keep its waters pristine supplied the kayaks and set up the venture with bags and gloves whilst Janice McTackett organised the round up of volunteers AND provided a yummy lunch with the help of husband Les. Thanks Guys.

Whist we spent about 2 hours actually out collecting, counting at the end, then socialising for a while we actually spent about 4.5 hours at the site. Whilst much of the debris was ciggarette butts, drink bottles and food packaging there was an odd assortment of clothing, shoes, a couple of tyres, a bin, a fishing rod, a wheel barrow and a charmingly decorated glass bottle covered in barnacles.

Despite the looming clouds, more than 70 volunteers came together to help BlacksmithsBeach gleam bright, free from rubbish and debris.

Lake Macquarie City Council, together with Oceanwatch and the Hunter-Central Rivers Catchment Management Authority, hosted the BlacksmithsBeach clean-up event on Saturday, 19 January.

More than two tonnes of discarded rubbish and washed up debris was hauled from the rocks, sand and dunes in the first local coast clean-up event in 2013. The strangest relic uncovered was a rusted old 4WD chassis that was dragged more than 10km down the beach, along with a car engine.

From tyres, microwaves and mattresses to bottles, cans and plastic bags, the hard working volunteers cleared the beach, filling more than 10 trailer loads and 75 large bags.

Manager Sustainability, Alice Howe, was very thankful to all who donated their time to make a difference to our local coastline.